Photo Courtesy of Vogue Magazine

  The iconic music artist and former member of boy band One Direction Harry Styles has caught the attention of many San Luis Obispo High School students when he made history as the first solo male to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine.
  Big in the music industry since 2010 and releasing two solo albums since 2017, Styles is a very well known artist and also known for his immaculate fashion sense. Wearing a custom-made Gucci lace trimmed blue ballgown with a tuxedo jacket, Styles made a bold fashion statement that led to conservative author Candace Owens having a lot to say about his appearance. Owens is an American conservative author, known for her pro-Trump activism as a woman of color and criticism of Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Party.
  Styles looked angelic, was wearing a gorgeous dress, and he shouldn’t be criticized based on society’s gender construct of wearing “feminine” clothing.
  “It’s honestly really embarrassing for Candace to believe that clothes are made for a specific gender. None of us came out of the womb wearing a dress if we were a girl and pants if we were a boy. It’s just a social construct for a piece of fabric,” said senior Courtney Bloomstine.  
  Posting on Twitter as well as videos on her Instagram story, Owens wasn’t shy to share her opinion about Styles’s “controversial” style choice and masculinity in society in general. Owens replied to Vogue Magazine on Twitter, saying, “There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack. Bring back manly men.”
  “A man wearing a dress doesn’t make him less manly, it’s genuinely just clothes. Men are the most “manly” when they don’t care what others think and wear whatever makes them comfortable. Styles should not be viewed as less manly because he wore what he wanted to,” said Bloomstine.
  Additional tweets from Owens regarding Styles’s masculinity include, “Terms like ‘toxic masculinity’, were created by toxic females. Real women don’t do fake feminism… Wait until they find out that I also think women should be feminine— and I enjoy cooking for and taking care of my husband.”
  “Toxic masculinity wasn’t created by toxic females. These females who are deemed ‘toxic’ are actually most likely feminists trying to break stereotypes and challenge the everyday norm which is so motivating and encouraging in today’s society,” said Bloomstine
  In a recent interview with Variety Magazine after being named Variety’s 2020 Hitmaker of the Year, Styles said, “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes… And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”
  “I think of Harry’s outfits like any other outfit in fashion magazines; it’s just an outfit. The notion that extremely successful male singers, actors, rappers, and superstar athletes aren’t the epitome of what every man strives to be, solely because of a certain outfit they might wear is ridiculous. Who is Candace Owens to tell global superstars like Harry Styles, Brad Pitt, Dennis Rodman, Kanye West, etc. that they aren’t masculine? I think it’s about insecurity in who you are, and the people who speak and think as she does feel threatened by men like Harry who get to dictate their manhood through their actions and accomplishments, rather than a piece of clothing,” said junior Caesar Holifield.
  It makes me extremely happy to see Styles and other artists and public figures breaking gender norms and displaying an uplifting self image and sending a message that anyone can wear what they want, no matter the limiting, toxic construct behind it.
  Clothes have no gender. People should be allowed to wear whatever they want and not be condemned for it.
  Miss Owens is absolutely allowed to have her own opinion, but let’s not pretend we’re still in the past centuries tradition where men have to wear suits and be defined by their power and masculinity.

Sources: Twitter, Vogue, nbcnews